There is one very common social-norm that upsets me more than any other: girls being in constant competition with one another.
It seems like no girl can accomplish anything without another girl trying to make comparisons, or generally tear her down.
Walking down the street, girls will look each other up and down, sizing each other up. Why do we insist on making these snap judgments instead of getting to know the person they immediately thought of as fat or skinny or ugly or pretty?
There are more important things in life than how we look or how we develop professionally.
Quite honestly, I have no idea why this is is the case, and it is very possible that we are all guilty of this, but it is time for it to stop.
It is time for girls to learn that in order to better themselves; they need to be supportive of and care for one another.
Petty drama is juvenile and it was too much even in high school, let alone adulthood. We need to start making it our goal to build people up and make them feel good about themselves and the wonderful things in their lives instead of letting jealousy overtake us.
When we choose to celebrate with others, we are choosing to be happier people ourselves because we are not bringing extra negativity into our lives. Girls all too often bring this negativity on themselves by making unnecessary comparisons between themselves and others. This can cause feelings of inadequacy and jealousy.
As a society, we need to acknowledge this behavior as something that is not okay and is one that needs to be changed immediately. My personal effort has been in place since middle school when I had a teacher who told us to try and think of one good quality that everyone we meet possesses, and to make that quality what defines them instead of whatever snap judgement we have been conditioned to make.
Once we can all accept that we each have individual strengths and weaknesses, we can move on with our lives instead of being stuck in the chain of pettiness. As we mature, we begin to cheer each other on and feel genuinely happy for each other when good things happen.
We are all on our own journey, and we will all be in different positions at different times.
